Jennifer Grey: The truth about me and Patrick Swayze

On what would have been Patrick Swayze’s 64th birthday, his Dirty Dancing co-star Jennifer Grey has opened up about the time she spent making the iconic film with the late actor, who tragically died in 2009 from pancreatic cancer at age 57.

While the pair were renowned for clashing on set, Jennifer reveals it was their differences that created movie magic.

'He was a great dancer and he was fearless,' Jennifer tells US mag Closer. 'His fearlessness with my fearfulness — it was like a marriage where you have two opposites. He would do anything and I would be scared to do anything.'

Jennifer says that despite this, Patrick was very nurturing on set. 'He was really strong and very protective of me,' she remembers, adding with a laugh, 'I had the time of my life!'

The 56-year-old actress says her memories of making the movie 30 years ago are so precious that she turned down the chance to appear in a remake to air in the US. 'I was flattered, but that role is sacrosanct to me. It just didn’t feel right.'